Refrigerator cabinet and shelf construction



P. T. SY'WERT 2,118,659

REFRIGERATOR CABINETAND SHELF CONSTRUCTION Filed June 20, 1935 Inventor: PhilipTSyWePt,

b mW a 8M4,

His Attowney.

Patented May 24, 1938 PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR CABINET AND SHELF CONSTRUCTION Philip T. Sywert, Wesleyville, Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application June 20, 1935, Serial No. 27,489

6 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and, more particularly, to an improved removable shelf construction therefor.

My invention is particularly useful in connection with cabinets for refrigerators and especially those designed for household use. In such cabinets, it is desirable that the shelves be made removable in order to facilitate the cleaning of the interior walls of the cabinet and in order to provide space for the storage of tall articles within the cabinet. in refrigerator cabinets, particular care must be taken to prevent the leakage of air into the interior of the walls which usually include a layer of heat insulating material. The heat insulating material is ordinarily of a dry fibrous nature and its insulating qualities are radically reduced when saturated with moisture. If air is allowed to leak into the insulation in the Walls from the interior of the refrigerator cabinet, moisture will thus be carried into the insulation.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved removable shelf construction for cabinets of the type described in which an arrangement is provided for preventing the leakage of air from the interior of the cabinet into the walls of the cabinet when a shelf is removed therefrom.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention,

reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a. refrigerator cabinet provided with a removable shelf construction embodying my invention, the

upper portion of the cabinet being broken away; Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation, partly in section, of a portion of the cabinet shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of an end of one of the shelves and the supporting arrangement therefor shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawing in Fig. 1, I have shown a refrigerator cabinet of the household type. The walls of this cabinet are formed by a rectangular outer sheet metal shell l0, which may be made of steel or the like, and having legs ll arranged at the lower corners thereof. The inner walls of the cabinet are formed by a leotangular inner liner l2, made of sheet metal such as steel. The inner and outer walls of the cabinet are arranged in spaced relation and heat insulation i3 is arranged therebetween. A cool-= ing or food storage compartment I4 is thus formed within the cabinet. The front walls of the outer shell ill and inner liner it are provided with registering rectangular openings which form a door opening affording access to the interior of the compartment it. The adjacent edges of the outer shell it and the inner liner i2 surrounding the doorway are secured together by a thin strip of insulating material i5. 10

The opposed sheet metal portions of the inner liner i2 forming the side walls of the compartment i i are provided with a series of holes it extending therethrough. A series of flexible members or casings are positioned in the holes 35 it and adapted to receive the projecting ends of a series of removable shelves mounted in the compartment it.

The flexible hollow members or casings mounted in the holes i6 are cup-shaped and include an extensible body portion having the open end 20 thereof presented to the interior of the compartment ii and adapted to receive the projecting ends of the shelves. In the illustrative form of my invention, the shelves ll are provided with L transverse front and rear bars i8 and I9 respec 25 tively. The transverse bars i6 and iii are of greater length than the width of the compart-" ment l4 and when positioned in the holes it, the ends of the bars project beyond the exterior surfaces of the side walls of the inner liner it. The shelves i1 also include a series of longitudinal bars 20 which are arranged in spaced relation with respect to each other on the transverse bars l8 and IS, the opposite ends thereof being Welded, or otherwise rigidly secured, thereto. A series of cup-shaped supporting casings 21 made of rubber, or similar flexible material, are mounted in the holes IS. The casings 2| include an extensible body portion 22 and an inner integral peripheral flange 23 which engages the adjacent portion of the inner liner l2. The casings 2| are also provided with an annular groove 24 extending about the body portion thereof at the base of the flange 23 and adapted to receive the ad- 4 jacent edges of the holes it formed in the inner liner l2. The insulation IS in the side walls of the cabinet is spaced from the adjacent side walls of the inner liner l2 thereof, forming recesses I3a in the side-walls surrounding the ends of the holes I6 and affording space for the movement of the ends of the bars i8 and I9 during the insertion and removal of the shelves H. The flexible casings 2| are inserted in the holes l6 from the interior of the cabinet. The body por- 55 tions 22 of the casings 2| are compressed by the edges of the holes 16 in passing therethrough during insertion, and the casings are forced into a position in which the edges of the holes l6 lie in the grooves 24. The casings 2| may be positioned on the ends of the bars l8 and 19 before the shelf is positioned in the cabinet and the casings forced into their proper positions in the holes I 6 by the ends of the bars.

In removing the shelves II from the cabinet, the shelf is first moved laterally and the projecting ends of the transverse bars l8 and I9 force the extensible body portion 22 of the casings 2| outwardly. The casings 2| thus allow a sufllcient lateral displacement of the shelves to free or disengage the end of the transverse bars II and I! at one end of the shelf, from their supporting casings. The shelf may then be tilted, as shown in Fig. 2, upwardly a sufiicient amount that the opposite ends of the transverse bars I 8 and I 9 can then be freed or disengaged from their supporting casings. Similarly, in placing one of the removable shelves II in position within the cooling compartment H, the ends of the transverse bars l8 and I! at one end of the shelf are inserted or engaged in their supporting casings 2| and the casings are then stretched a suilicient amount to allow the ends of the transverse bars at the opposite end of the shelf to be brought into engaging position in their respective supporting casings.

It will thus be seen that the cup-shaped supporting casings 2| form a tight seal about the edges of the holes it formed in the inner liner l2 and prevent the leakage of air from the interior of the compartment ll into the insulation l3. Also, since the outer ends of the casings 2| are closed air cannot enter the insulation 13 through the holes It even when the shelves ll are removed from the cabinet.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention in connection with a cabinet for a household type refrigerator, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shown and described and I intend, in the appended claims, to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In combination, a cabinet having side walls forming a compartment therein, a removable shelf for said compartment and having lateral projections thereon, said side walls being provided with apertures therein, and means including' cup-shaped casings having extensible hollow body portions fitting on said lateral projections and secured in the apertures in said side walls for supporting said shelf in a substantially horizontal position in said compartment, the hollow body portions of said casings being extensible in order to accommodate lateral sliding movements of said lateral projections into engaging and disengaging relation therewith. during placement and removal respectively of said shelf, said casings having closed ends presented toward the exterior of said compartment and sealing the apertures in said side walls against passage of air therethrough.

2. In combination, a cabinet having side walls forming a compartment therein, a removable shelf for said compartment and having lateral projections thereon, said side walls being provided with apertures therein, and means including cup-shaped casings having extensible hollow body portions fitted on said lateral projections and mounted in the apertures in said side walls for supporting said shelf in a substantially horizontal position in said compartment, said casings having closed ends presented toward the exterior of said compartment, the hollow body portions of said casings being extensible in order to accommodate lateral sliding movements of said lateral projections into engaging and disengaging relation therewith during placement and removal respectively of said shelf, said casings being provided with peripheral flanges surrounding the open ends of the body portions thereof and engaging the adjacent portion of said side walls surrounding the apertures therein to seal the apertures in said side walls against passage of air therethrough.

3. In combination, a cabinet having side walls forming a compartment therein, a removable shelf for said cabinet, said shelf including a pair of front and rear transverse bars having projecting ends and a plurality of longitudinal bars arranged in spaced relation on said transverse bars with the opposite ends thereof secured thereto, said side walls being provided with apertures therein, and cup-shaped flexible rubber casings having extensible hollow body portions fitted on said projecting ends of said transverse bars and secured in said apertures, said cup-shaped casings having closed ends presented toward the exterior of said compartment.

4. In combination, a cabinet having side walls forming a compartment therein, said side walls including an inner sheet metal portion forming an inner liner for said compartment, a removable shelf for said compartment and having lateral projections formed thereon, said inner sheet metal portion being provided with holes therein, and means including cup-shaped casings having extensible hollow body portions fitted on said lateral projections and secured in the holes in said inner sheet metal portion for supporting said shelf in a substantially horizontal position in said compartment, the hollow body portions of said casings being extensible in order to accommodate lateral sliding movements of said lateral projections into engaging and disengaging relation therewith during placement and removal respectively of said shelf, said casings having closed ends presented to the exterior of said compartment and sealing the holes in said inner sheet metal portion against passage of air therethrough.

5. In combination, a cabinet having side walls forming a compartment therein, said side walls including an inner sheet metal portion forming an inner liner for said compartment, a removable shelf for said compartment and having lateral projections formed thereon, said inner sheet metal portion being provided with holes therein, and means including cup-shaped casings having extensible hollow body portions fitted on said lateral projections and mounted in the holes in said inner sheet metal portion for supporting said shelf in a substantially horizontal position in said compartment, the hollow body portions of said casings being extensible in order to accommodate lateral sliding movements of said lateral projections into engaging and disengaging relation therewith during placement and removal .espectively of said shelf, said casings having closed ends presented to the exterior of said compartment, each of said casings being provided with a peripheral groove formed therein and engaging the adjacent edges of one of the holes formed in said inner sheet metal portion to seal the hole against passage of air therethrough.

6. In combination, a cabinet having inner and outer sheet metal walls arranged in spaced relation, said inner wall forming a compartment within said cabinet, said inner wall including an inner sheet metal portion having holes formed therein, a removable shelf for said cabinet, said shelf including a pair of front and rear transverse bars having projecting ends and a series of longitudinal bars arranged on said transverse bars in spaced relation and having the opposite ends thereof secured to said transverse bars, and cup-shaped flexible rubber casings having extensible hollow body portions fitted on said projecting ends of said transverse rods and mounted in the holes in said inner sheet metal portion, said casings having closed ends presented to the exterior of said compartment, each of said flexible rubber casings being provided with an annular groove therein engaging the adjacent edges of said inner sheet metal portion surrounding one of the holes formed therein to seal the hole against passage of air between the interior of said compartment and the space between said inner and said outer sheet metal walls.

PHILIP T. SYWERT. 

